Owls Now Alone Atop Atlantic 10

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 10: Head coach Fran Dunphy of the Temple Owls coaches against the Villanova Wildcats at the Liacouras Center on December 10, 2011 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — After winning at Rhode Island on Saturday, the Temple Owls now enjoy a six-game winning streak and a 17-5 record. And their 6-2 mark in the Atlantic 10 has them alone atop the conference standings (half game ahead of four teams including La Salle).

In that win over the Rams, forward Michael Eric took the next step in his return from that patella injury, as he rejoined the starting line-up. Owls head coach Fran Dunphy talks about that decision.

“I think (redshirt freshman forward) Anthony Lee helped with that. He and I had a talk and Anthony said to me, ‘I think it’s time for Mike to jump back in there, he deserves this opportunity and I’m ok with coming off the bench’. So I think it was very important for our team that Anthony had that kind of presence and understanding of what a senior is going through. We were probably leaning in that direction anyway, but certainly Anthony helped us along the way.”

Eric had four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes of work. Lee had four points and three rebounds off the bench.

Now the Owls return home on Wednesday night to host George Washington. The Colonials have dropped four straight and sit at 8-15 on the season overall, but Dunphy says they are still dangerous.

“They have good guard play, they play a lot of bodies. They are playing ten guys double-figure minutes, so we’re going to have a lot of people thrown at us. We’re going to really have to play our best basketball throughout these last eight games that we play, starting with George Washington on Wednesday.”

GW is lead by senior guard Tony Taylor and his 14.1 points per game. Taylor also has a team high 100 assists.

Temple and George Washington on Wednesday night will tip-off at 6:00pm.